Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Sustainability and Transformation plans will be (a) made public and (b) fully consulted on before being implemented.

David Mowat

As set out in the NHS Shared Planning Guidance, published in December 2015, the success of Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) will depend on having an open, engaging, and iterative process that harnesses the energies of clinicians, patients, carers, citizens, and local community partners including the independent and voluntary sectors and local government. The national bodies responsible for the development of the programme have continued to ask for robust local plans for genuine engagement as part of the STP process.

STP proposals are currently at a draft stage, but it is expected that all local leaders will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly as it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. All local STP areas should therefore now be having conversations with local people and stakeholders – understanding what matters to them, and explaining how services might be improved. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement, and if plans propose service changes that are agreed, then formal consultation will be followed in due course in line with good practice and legislative requirements. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has made to the Government on the potential effect on health of restricting television advertising for unhealthy food on programming likely to be watched by children.

Nicola Blackwood

Evidence shows that current restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink in the United Kingdom are amongst the toughest in the world.

The Department worked with other Government Departments in developing the recently launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action. The policies in the plan are informed by the latest research and evidence, including from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report Carbohydrates and Health, Public Health England’s evidence package Sugar reduction: the evidence for action, debates in this House and various reports from key stakeholders including the Health Select Committee.

Copies of Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, Carbohydrates and Health and Sugar reduction: the evidence for action are available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445503/SACN_Carbohydrates_and_Health.pdf

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Gulf Strategy Unit’s remit is; and which Government Minister set that remit.

Ben Gummer

The Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team was established in 2015.

Its remit is to coordinate the Government’s strategic approach to UK engagement with the Gulf States as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

It employs three full-time and one part-time Government employees. One is military and three are civilian.

Administration costs were £70,004 in the 2015-16 financial year and the budget for administration costs in the 2016-17 financial year is £423,000. The 2015-16 figure reflects the fact the unit was established later in the financial year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times his Department did not select or treated as ineligible a contractor under article 23 of the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations 2011 since 2011.

Harriett Baldwin

The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any instances where it has not selected, or treated as ineligible, a contractor under article 23 of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress is being made on the accelerated access review for drugs for rare cancers; by what date he plans for that review to be concluded; and if he will set a deadline by which arrangements must be in place for the assessment of new drugs.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review which was set up to look at speeding up access to innovative drugs including those for rare diseases, devices and diagnostics for National Health Service patients has been making strong progress since it was first announced in November 2014.

The review which is independently chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor has been engaging stakeholders extensively over the summer to gather evidence on the big questions the review is considering, and has developed a number of emerging solutions.

Sir Hugh published his interim report of the review on 27 October 2015. The report is high-level, direction-setting and grounded in evidence gathered through the review’s stakeholder engagement to date. The review is embarking on a second phase of engagement with stakeholders to further build the evidence, stress-test and refine the reports interim findings.

The review will conclude with Sir Hugh making his final recommendations to Government by April 2016. The Government will thereafter consider how best to respond.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will intervene on behalf of Khalid Younis so that he receives drugs needed to treat his chronic myeloid leukaemia condition.

George Freeman

Ministers are unable to intervene in or comment specifically on an individual patient’s clinical care, which is a matter for the relevant clinicians.

In the absence of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, funding decisions for individual treatments should be made by the relevant National Health Service commissioner, based on an assessment of the available evidence. Commissioners are also required to have processes in place for the consideration of exceptional funding requests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2015 to Question 16265, what procedures jobcentre advisers follow when their clients request a referral to a foodbank for the fourth time in any given year.

Priti Patel

If a claimant wishes to access the services of a foodbank, Jobcentre Plus can signpost them to an appropriate organisation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20080, by what date his Department will review all reports which relate to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill; and whether his Department will publish a response to or make a statement on those reports after completing that review.

Priti Patel

The Department continually monitors published reports in the public domain. This includes those which relate to policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which is currently being discussed in Committee in the House of Lords.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to launch its planned consultation on increasing the transparency of property ownership by foreign companies.

Matthew Hancock

In due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to support children who have experienced abuse; how much funding has been allocated to (a) mental health services, (b) therapeutic services and (c) other support services for such children over each of the last five years; and what plans there are to vary the level of that funding.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to delivering the vision set out in the Future in mind report and is driving forward the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services to improve access to high quality support across the country. This transformation is being supported by £1.25 billion of additional Government investment, as well as an extra £150 million to help young people with eating disorders.

Local Transformation Plans will set out how local organisations will use the additional investment of £1.4 billion the Government is making during the course of this Parliament to transform local child and adolescent mental health services. All clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working closely with their partners in local government, Children’s Services and education, have developed plans to transform their local offer. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. This includes those who have been exposed to sexual abuse or exploitation.

NHS England increased funding of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) from £8.98 million to £16.5 million in 2014/15 recurrently, especially to improve the paediatric response to the needs of sexually abused children. NHS England continues to make the health services response to sexual abuse a priority, and in addition to producing a five year plan for commissioning SARCs, they are planning to engage with CCGs on the delivery of therapeutic care to support survivors.

The Government has set up the first ever cross-Government Ministerial Child Protection Taskforce to overhaul the way police, schools, social services and others work together in tackling abuse of children. The Taskforce’s work will build on the Government’s wide-ranging reforms to create a care system that puts children’s needs first.